Some travel 600 kilometers for Eichholz: campsites explode at Pentecost

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At the Eichholz campsite on the outskirts of Bern, the chirping of birds and the hum of Aare, as well as the fragrant mix of river water, grilled meat and grass: pure idyll. At the start of Pentecost weekend, Friday afternoon, only a few campers and tents can still be seen. But camp manager Sebastian Geissel (32) knows: “From 5pm onwards, all hell breaks loose here.”

During Pentecost weekend, all 50 camper sites, ten rooms, and most of the tent sites are occupied. A maximum of 500 people can camp in Eichholz. “We’re full all year,” says Geissel. Many visitors came, half from Switzerland, but also from neighboring countries and Great Britain, Australia and South America.

It attracts not only idyll, but also low prices. Small tent area 10 francs, double room 25 francs, parking space for mobile home 32.50 francs per person. “We always run out of tickets for big concerts in Bern or festivals in nearby Gurten,” adds Geissel.

Sustainable camping boom

With the sunshine above Pentecost, the camp boom is gaining new momentum. Many Swiss are reinventing their country as a holiday destination, and camping is ideal for this. “It started before the pandemic, got stronger during it, and continues,” says Geissel.

Oliver Grützner (51), Head of Tourism and Entertainment at TCS, agrees: “The development of camping is sustainable.” Last year, TCS, Switzerland’s largest provider of camps with 25 own sites, recorded 900,000 overnight stays. This is 43 percent more than in 2019 before the pandemic. “Pre-bookings have also reached a high level,” says Grützner. Demand from abroad is almost as high as before Corona.

At Pentecost weekend, TCS places were filled, and only a few places remained for a short time in French-speaking Switzerland and Engadin. “The same goes for summer,” Grützner and Geissel say at the same time.

Children’s birthday party at the campsite

But some are lucky. Manfred Kahlstädt (69) traveled from Kassel, Germany. He and his wife drove 600 kilometers in a rented mobile home to camp in Switzerland for the first time. Without a fixed plan, without pre-booking. He took the last vacant spot and now spends two nights in Eichholz, a total of “2 to 3 weeks in Switzerland”. “The campground is beautiful and the staff are friendly,” the camp veteran enthusiastically says. Lucerne and the Aare Strait are also on the agenda. Will he be able to find spontaneous parking spaces again?

Valentin Ritz (40) booked early. Spiegel lives in BE just five minutes away and is in Eichholz with family friends for the Pentecost weekend. Here they celebrate the birthdays of their daughter and son. “The campground is great as an activity place with kids,” he says enthusiastically. The large area has room for detective games and sometimes you can leave the kids unattended.

The Ritz family also likes to spend their holidays at their campsite, sometimes in Yverdon, Valais or Sardinia. He is particularly pleased that more and more young families are discovering camping as a form of vacation.

Source :Blick